The Totally NEW Team Corwin Thread

August 11th, 2011, 01:09

Since you get free TP, it shouldn't take long to get the remaining races and classes should you want them. Especially with the current deal; 3k TP can go a long way.

Humans really make outstanding caster-clerics, since they're one of two races with a racial Wisdom enhancement and get an extra feat to help a feat-starved class. So of course, the cleric I made to start was and Elf…

One of the new Artificer spells is, essentially, a single target, 5-10 minute haste. That can't be dispelled by beholders and the like. Even the scroll should last around 3 mins; more than a cl20 Haste.

— It was the night before Hogswatch…

I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

Damage Boost enhancements now give a percentage increase, up to 25% at tier IV, rather than up to +5 damage. It appears to work on SA damage as well as base damage, but not any additional damage types such as elemental/force/burst or Barbarian Frenzy.

Human/Half-Elf Versatility boosts can be activated at the same time as class boosts. So Fireflash can grab +25% damage on top of the haste boost.

Artificers are able to summon Iron Defender minions using a special ability. These minions are similar to hirelings, and enable a UI bar for players to control their pet's actions. The minions are treated as hirelings, but do not take up a party slot. The Iron Defender will level up with the number of Artificer levels of its owner, and gain two action points per Artificer level that can be spent on special Iron Defender enhancements.

The death of an Iron Defender is traumatic for the Artificer, causing the Artificer to take 10% of their maximum hit points in damage (but cannot bring the Artificer below 1 hit point), and 10% of an Artificer's maximum spell points.

Iron Defenders have Modules that can be equipped from their "inspect" screen. Docents and modules created in Device Workstations can be equipped in module slots.

Rapid Reload is now automatically granted to Artificers at level 1.

When a Rune Arm is equipped, the "Caps Lock" key is used to fire the Rune Arm. The key is pressed to begin charging the Rune Arm; hitting the key again will fire the weapon. Rune Arms can be charged only a limited amount while moving, but can be powered to become far more powerful when the Artificer is standing still. Charging a Rune Arm does not interrupt or prevent other actions, but may hinder some abilities or speed while a charge is held. A charge-up UI shows what tier of charging the Rune Arm has reached. Rune Arms have a cooldown that is tied to the level of the charge fired.

There are several different Rune Arm fire patterns. Many will fire projectiles at a selected hard target, or at the reticule if no target is hard selected, while others fire unguided shots at the reticule or fire blasts of energy in an area in front of the Artificer.

Rune Arms have imbue effects that apply to your equipped weapons. For example, Thought Spike, a Tier One Force Shot Rune Arm, adds 1 to 2 points of Force damage to all of the Artificer’s melee or ranged attacks.

Crafting xp required to level has been reduced, and drop rates of essences increases.

Point Blank Shot has been changed to, "You gain +1 bonus to hit with ranged attacks within 45 feet, and your ranged weapons deal deals +1(Base Weapon Damage). (A weapon that deals 1d6 damage per hit will deal 2d6 damage per hit instead, while a weapon that deals 2d8 damage per hit will deal 4d8 damage instead. This affects the base dice associated with a weapon any time they are rolled, including critical hits.)"

Improved Sunder now lowers fortification by 10% on a failed saving throw, in addition to the feat's prior reduction of a target's armor class by -5. The lowered fortification effect does not stack. Additionally, Improved Sunder will apply a -3 Fortitude Saving Throw penalty that lasts for 24 seconds on a successful hit. The saving throw penalty stacks up to five times.

Rogue Wrack Construct no longer possesses a Saving Throw, and has a ranged version as a sub-enhancement.

— It was the night before Hogswatch…

I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

School: Evocation
Level: Art 2
Cost: 4 SP
Components: V, S, M
Effect: Deals 4 to 6 damage per caster level (up to a max of 80 to 120 at caster level 20) to any elemental you touch. Half the damage is electric, the other half is force. The target of the spell is also dazed. A successful Will save halves the damage and negates the daze.

School: Divination
Level: Art 2
Cost: 15 SP
Components: V, S, M
Target: Self
Effect: Enchants a crossbow or one handed melee weapon to permit the use of the equipper's Intelligence modifier for attack rolls instead of Strength or Dexterity, if it is the only weapon (other than a Rune Arm) equipped. An item can have only one temporary item enchantment at a time.

Lightning Sphere

School: Evocation
Level: Art 2
Cost: 10 SP
Components: V, S, M
Effect: Launches an electrical orb that explodes on impact, dealing 5 to 8 electrical damage per two caster levels (up to a max of 25 to 40 damage at caster level 10) to targets in the area. The targets of this spell will also be dazed for a short period of time or until they take damage. A successful Fortitude save reduces the damage by half and negates the daze. Unlike most other projectile spells, the caster can arc the orb if no target is selected.

School: Transmutation
Level: Art 3
Cost: 15 SP
Components: V, S, M
Effect: You enhance an ally with some of your life force, giving them a 10% enhancement bonus to maximum hit points. You suffer a stacking maximum hit point penalty of 10% for each time this spell has been cast. The effect lasts for five minutes before expiring.

Armor of Speed

School: Transmutation
Level: Art 4
Cost: 25 SP
Components: V, S, M
Effect: Your target's currently equipped armor gains Equip Effect: Quickens the wearer, causing them to attack 15% faster than normal. In addition the recipient gains a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves. An item can have only one temporary item enchantment at a time.

School: Abjuration [Force]
Level: Art 5
Cost: 30 SP
Components: V, S, M
Effect: Your target is surrounded in a sphere of magical force that reduces all damage they take by 25% for a short period of time.

School: Transmutation
Level: Art 6
Cost: 40 SP
Components: V, S, M
Effect: Causes an unstable ball of plasma to streak towards your enemy. The ball explodes on impact, knocking enemies to the ground and dealing 4 to 6 fire damage per two caster levels (a successful Reflex save reduces the fire damage by half and negates the knockdown effect) and 3 to 4 force damage per caster level (no save) to targets in the area. Unlike most other projectile spells, the caster can arc this sphere if they have no target selected.

— It was the night before Hogswatch…

I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

Hey, did you notice some of those caster level specs? Level 35 and level 40? I think there are some enhancements to boost your casting level, but double? Would this be a sign of higher levels on the horizon?

— Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
Dallas Cowboys: Great Season! / / Detroit Red Wings: Another rollercoaster this year?

I see 2 problems with that. First you would need a great deal of new content/quests to support higher levels, and secondly you would need plenty of higher level new spells to make continuing development of casters worthwhile. Otherwise, we'd all turn into Barbarians!!

On the Games Com, I had a very interesting talk on DDO with a woman with an american accent (I think she WAS actually american …)

I talked about my (still lingering) wish to connect myself to this group one day, and we talked about D&D in general (she didn't really like Atari as a D&D games publisher, if I understood her correctly) and abut D&D in general. Of course I tried to explain TDE to her a little at one point …

I had rarely had such a fine talk with someone on a games fair !

In the end, she game me 2 cards with codes fopr 500 points each, and a special card with which I might be able to get a "pirate hat" one day …

I was really fun talking with her ! I think I might give her the adress of this forum … And of this thread as well …

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Actually I've seen quite a few people running around with pirate hats on.

Corwin, one thing you may have missed about the Artificer is that they get pets. Druids also get pets… in all likelyhood the Artificer class is testing out what will become Druids' (and Rangers and Wizards) animal companions in the future. Leaving only the shapeshifting part to figure out.

They seem more like a Rogue-splashed Bard than a caster, with a few unique perks like the Mega busters. But they do come with Blade Barrier as well, meaning they have one of the best spells in game.

There are caster PrE's and items which boost caster level, but I don't think it even reaches to level 25 yet. However, in PnP, there are rules to take the levels on up to 40 if you wish to slaughter entire solar systems (post level 20 D&D3.x is slightly broken) in a round or two.

I doubt there's a level cap increase coming soon, since not only would that require a lot of new content to let players reach that level, but reworking the capstone enhancement (since 20 would no longer be cap), balance issues with potentially taking two PrE lines to tier 2 (TempestII/RSII anyone?), what to do with current Epic (add more Tarrasques).

Most likely, it's carryover from PnP rules, as there are many spells which scale to such levels. They just implemented them straight up.

— It was the night before Hogswatch…

I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

Hi all. I am still in KY and may be for a while. My sisters are trying to sort out a laptop and wireless connection for me but for now I will be mia. Game withdrawl sucks…. Oh well maybe next week I can get on a little. Have fun and don't pass me up too much. lol

— Bart and Corwin should just admit that when it gets down to it, I will have the final say.